Younicos has commissioned a 1 MW / 2 MWh lithium-ion battery system in partnership with Panasonic and Xcel Energy. The news was announced at the Energy Storage Association’s 27th Annual Conference, which offered two delegate group tours of the multi-resource microgrid.

The system is located at Peña Station NEXT, a transit-oriented smart and sustainable development in Denver. Panasonic Enterprise Solutions Company and Panasonic CityNOW is the anchor corporate tenant and lead technology partner. A unique solar+storage microgrid is at the heart of the development’s energy solutions. Representing a model for utility and commercial and industrial (C&I) microgrids, the project benefits various stakeholders and the power grid by providing renewables integration, grid resilience, and multiple grid support and operational services, such as peak demand reduction and frequency regulation.

Four Younicos Y.Cubes have been connected to the Xcel Energy power grid, creating a one-megawatt (MW) battery storage resource enabled by Younicos’s intelligent Y.Q control software. The system’s multi-mode operating capability makes it possible to derive maximum benefits from the 1.6 MWdc solar PV system located on a nearby carport, along with 259 kWdc of PV on the building’s rooftop. Panasonic’s operations hub building, which has an intelligent building energy management system, is serving as the initial anchor load for the microgrid.

“This portfolio microgrid is a smart, resilient, and clean energy resource, not just for Panasonic’s Denver operations hub, but also for the broader Peña Station NEXT development,” said George Karayannis, VP of Panasonic CityNOW. “It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Younicos and Xcel Energy to realize this innovative project.”

Each Y.Cube is an integrated “plug-and-play” solution that comprises two sub-enclosures, one each for the power conversion system (PCS) and DC battery block. Y.Cubes are available in 250 or 500 kVA modular building blocks that can be deployed individually in smaller applications or combined to create multi-megawatt systems.
A white paper co-authored by the project partners entitled: “A Portfolio Microgrid in Denver, Colorado: How a multi-use battery energy storage system provides grid and customer services through a public-private partnership,” is available for free download here.